Rangel may be right on mandatory draft

Charlie Rangel may be right that we need to reinstate the draft, says Michael Smerconish in The Huffington Post. A draft would compel all Americans would share the responsibility of defense, and might make us more reluctant to go to war, Smerconish says.

This proposal isn’t going anywhere since it’s inherently immoral and generally moronic. We had a draft for the Korean and Vietnam wars and that didn’t prevent us from getting into those wars, and we kept hundreds and thousands of troops stationed overseas and in harms way during the 40′s 50′s 60′s and 70′s when we weren’t at war but had a draft. In fact having a draft makes it more likely that we will go to war since the military will know that they can get all the “cannon fodder” they want whether or not the war is popular.

Also, the only way to make the draft moral is by making everybody subject to it who is over a certain age and isn’t capable of working at any job. I have a friend who is in his early 60′s who has worked his entire adult life who is in favor of bringing back the draft but never served in Vietnam because he had a student deferment during that time. Why should somebody like this not have to serve his country but some poor schmuck 18 year old who is just starting out life have to? HUH!!! WHY???

In any case, it makes much more sense to do away with the war powers act and require congress to declare war the way the constitution says it should. That way the whole country has to mobilize and crush whatever the danger is with the overwhelming force of the entire country.

Having been drafted, and to fight what was purely a resource war that corporations wanted fought to secure tin, rubber, manganese, still unexploited off-shore oil, and control of the rice growing bread-basket of Asia (Mekong River system), I have mixed feelings about the state (especially when under corporate control) being able to send the non-rich segment of the population off to fight for the financial interests of those who NEVER send their own children into harm’s way (like the Romney boys, and Romney himself). We have seen the “all voluntary” military being drawn from the lower classes, trained for war, mercilessly used, over and over, then brought home where their valuable learned skills have no marketable value, and being motivated to such service, unable to mount the type of questioning of the motives our ‘leaders’ have, as were the taken, kicking and screaming, draftees, who came home hardened to the truth of what their country caused them to become, and why. This is NOT a simple question, even for someone with my perspective.